But after a turbulent two weeks in South London, co-chairman Parish insisted the 65-year-old promotion expert was a “safe pair of hands right now” as the club faces another battle against the drop.

And they wanted a manager in to do quick business before the transfer window closes on Monday night, with Norwich striker Gary Hooper and Manchester United's former Palace winger Wilfried Zaha both targets.

"He has unfinished business in the Premier League. As we all know he went down with 38 points which would have kept you up last year in unfortunate circumstances surrounding that with Sheffield Utd (in 2007).

(Photo: Paul Gilham)

“He was out of the relegation zone with QPR when they decided they wanted to go in a different direction. I think he has things he wants to prove to himself.

"He likes the club, got a lot of affection for the fans and it felt like a good fit. I think he is the person who most suits our style of play, our tactics. We are difficult to beat - at least we were - and we need to get back to that.”

Former Palace assistant Mick Jones, who also worked with Warnock at QPR, added: “The last time we were never in the bottom three and I know that rankles with Neil, how he got the sack and had never been in the relegation zone.”

Warnock left Palace in 2010 with the club in administration to go to the Loftus Road club and then worked at Leeds.

“We never offered the job to anyone else,” Parish insisted. “From a footballing point of view, Malky was a very good candidate. Unfortunately there are things obviously that meant we couldn’t bring him to the club.”

Warnock has made his peace with Jason Puncheon before returning to Palace.

The midfielder was fined £15,000 by the FA in March after a furious Twitter tirade against his former QPR boss, who criticised him on talkSPORT for missing a penalty for Palace against Spurs.